Chapter Seven

Kenshin was not answering his phone.

Ten minutes after the weather alert, the temperature had finally dropped, but held steady at five degrees above the predicted high. The news was warning citizens to stay inside to avoid heat stroke, and recommendations for increased fluid intake would run across the bottom of the screen every three to five minutes. It was good news, but still worrying. What had caused the spike in temperature, or, more specifically, what had upset Kenshin enough for him to lose his temper?

Standing straight and tall in front of the large open windows of the lobby, Tomoe divided her outwardly unhurried attention between her phone, the TV hanging above the receptionist's desk, and the front doors. During the time Tomoe had known Kenshin, he had changed a lot. In the beginning, he had been lost to his emotions, and out-of-control of his fire. Multiple triggers had led him to that point. Many traumatic events had scarred and torn away his ability to empathize with the world. He had hated everything and everyone, and had trusted in nothing.

Since that time, Kenshin had struggled to rebuild himself and his ability to interact with others. It had taken many, many long years, but it had paid off. While it felt at times as if he were merely playing along, it was his determination to keep trying that ended up being his strength. For the last few decades, he had even appeared to be genuinely content, if not truly happy, and his kindness was now natural. He went out of his way to help others, his attitude was more confidant and cheerful, and his aura made those in his presence feel safe. Kenshin had long since left behind that sullen creature that used to lash out in fear and rage. In fact, losing his temper was not something that had happened in a long, long time.

Tomoe shuddered to think what could have caused him to lose it now.

The phone in her hand buzzed insistently for her attention, and her heart lurched as she rotated her wrist to check the caller. A steadying breath pulled into her lungs. "Megumi-sensei."

"Where is he?" The no-nonsense tone of her boss spoke of irritation.

"I don't know." Her gentle voice softened. "I have been unable to get in touch with him."

"Dammit. He must have turned his phone off. I haven't been able to track him, either."

In the back of her mind, Tomoe wondered if the phone had even survived the spike in temperature.

"If he's the cause of this, you know we'll be blamed. I stuck my neck out for him once and it's been permanently on the chopping block since."

"But the temperature stabilized." Interjecting, Tomoe glanced at the curious receptionist before shifting her stance to face away from him.

"It better normalize or he's going back in that damn freezer!"

"I'll take care of it, Megumi-sensei. I know what my assignment was for…" A sharp pop to her right made her flinch, and deep black eyes swung to a crack in the thick window pane. One moment later, and that crack branched and climbed all the way to the ceiling. Noise, like the warning twang-snap of a frozen lake, echoed within the lobby as every piece of outward glass suffered the same fate. Quick stepping away from the windows, Tomoe waited for them to shatter, and breathed a sigh of relief when they did not.

"What was that?!" Megumi was yelling at her over the phone, but Tomoe only thought to look around after it was too late. A glimpse of red hair and the elevator doors sliding shut suggested Kenshin's return to the lab.

"He's here. He must be heading for Kaoru."

X

The plastic of the guest badge warped under his thumb and forefinger as he swiped it for access to the small lab that was housing Kaoru. As a result, it took four tries before it allowed him entry. Irritation mixed with anger, and the badge crumpled in his fist like a distorted and shrunken ball once the door finally opened. The soft noise of metal and rubber turning announced Kaoru before the wheelchair spun through the rec room door hurriedly. There was concern on her features. She smiled when she saw it was him, though, and his irritation eased enough to drop the melted badge to the floor.

"Kaoru. Stay in your chair." His voice rumbled through the air like an unstable volcano, and her hands came off the wheels cautiously. Every muscle in her body had tensed as well, and the smile that had bowed her lips slid slowly into uncertainty. Sweat was already beginning to bead from her forehead due to the spike in temperature, and the air conditioning whined as it desperately tried to keep up. Maintaining a safe distance, Kenshin withdrew his phone and held up the screen for her to see. He was acutely aware of the shake in his hand.

"Do you know this man?"

Cracked but healing lips formed a small O, and terror, unlike the kind she had shown to or because of him, consumed the liquid flame of her blue eyes. At first, she froze, as if holding herself still would convince the world that she was not truly there. Not one second later, and she lurched out of her wheelchair so suddenly that it careened towards the glass wall behind her. All of her weight shifted naturally to her dominant right foot, which slipped out from under her as the force plus mass propelled the momentum behind the chair's trajectory, and she slammed face first into the floor.

No whimper of pain or cry of surprise squeaked from her throat, and instead she scrambled so that she was flattened over her bent knees into the smallest possible ball she could manage. Both hands covered the back of her head, pressing her nose into the cold floor, and there she stayed without so much as a quiver. Only the quickened expansion of her ribs now hinted at her fear.

Standing with her kneeling at his feet, Kenshin's chin came up, and his golden eyes widened. Today was the first day Kenshin had seen Kaoru in a short-sleeved shirt, and with her arms bare he could see the scars Tomoe had spoken to him of. Cowering as she was, the bend of her elbows aligned the marks along her arms and hands perfectly. No doubt, they would extend onto her back with the same vicious precision.

A cane? Or a whip? Did it matter? Kenshin knew well what both felt like, and the phantom pain contracted the muscles along his back. This posture of submission and supplication she knelt in was habitual for her, or else she would not have instantly gone to it in her state of panic. In Kenshin's experience, captors usually demanded submission. A bowed head meant a broken spirit. Perhaps she starved herself. Did you not once try to do the same?

Why am I remembering these things?!

Anger. An anger he had fought long and hard to put aside, gutted him from within. It sparked and raged in his soul, burning his mind with hatred and malice. This feeling was just like before; when he was still young and totally consumed by his own fire. Unlike before, indignation welled up the back of his throat for this broken demon, and he slammed to his knees to smash one flaming fist into the floor between them.

"Get up!" The demand was nothing short of a heated shout, and she flinched at the abrupt change in his attitude. "Do not bow your head to anyone! Do not let them break you! Do not give in! You owe them nothing! You deserve to live!"

Slowly, her sapphire irises peaked up at him, and the hands at the base of her skull slid off while she observed his tantrum in silence. The longer she studied him, the more definitive the creases around her eyes became until he recognized what he did not expect. Empathy. Somehow, she understood what he was truly saying, and that it was not necessarily aimed at her. Heat, like slow and dangerous magma, seared a crimson trail from the corner of each golden eye as he watched her frail hands lift toward him in an open offering of comfort.

"S-stop."

He tried to deny her, but the smile was back on her lips, and she was up on her knees now. Both arms extended towards him, and she did not even wince as the skin of her fingers reddened. Her intentions were clear, but he still had no control over his emotions. Hazardous levels of heat and tiny licks of fire had formed a barrier around his body, protecting him from what he hated… and what he feared. It would cause harm without prejudice, and there was nothing he wanted less than to hurt this fragile young woman with her irises as blue as complete combustion.

And yet, he was tempted to accept.

No. She'll die.

"Kaoru!" Alarmed by the scene before her, and still breathing heavily from her run through the halls, the name tore from Tomoe's lips. Hurrying forward, she wrapped an arm around Kaoru's middle and drug her as far from Kenshin as she could. "You cannot touch him!"

Struggling, Kaoru latched both hands around the arms holding her from behind, and twisted her chin to direct wide, pleading eyes up at Tomoe. The expression was easy to read.

"I know. But it will hurt him more if he hurts you."

"Tomoe…san..."

A soft gasp shuddered in Tomoe's chest, and she unconsciously hugged Kaoru tight to her as she gathered her strength. The man now kneeling across the room from them no longer resembled the caring red-headed demon who had gone out of his way to help a stranger on the street. Instead, his body roared like a forest ablaze, and the sheer heat emanating from his fire was beginning to melt everything within a certain proximity of him. Sooner rather than later, that proximity would include them. This form was terrifying, and even Tomoe faltered in the face of his raw power.

"…I can't… stop it." The words ground from between clenched teeth, and thick, liquid fire dripped from Kenshin's chin in one large drop before hitting the concrete floor with force. Between his hands, it hissed angrily as it began eating its way through the solid mass. Despite the ferocity of his appearance, he was clearly in pain, and Tomoe knew well the struggle he dealt with just to keep this dangerous power of his in check.

"Stay here, Kaoru-san." Whispering the words into her hair, Tomoe released her and stood. One long breath in focused her own power, and on her exhale her entire body turned black. Not even the whites of her eyes were visible when her lashes once more parted. Each step toward him and into the wall of heat was harder than the last, and what felt like an eternity was merely seven steps.

Standing before him, Tomoe place both hands on the top of his head and instantly felt the heat sear through her. Within mere moments, the deep black of her skin superheated and she glowed red like an ember. Pain shot through her core, but Kenshin's fire did not lessen. Panic joined the pain, and she concentrated harder on absorbing more, on lessening the flame. Whatever control Kenshin had regained was quickly falling apart, and she had to stop him, she had to calm him. Again, she wondered what had happened to undo his hard-won control.

An audible crack stole her breath, and she fell to her knees.

"Dammit!"

The explicit filled the room a second before biting cold hit Kenshin square in the back, wrapped around him, and covered Tomoe completely. Smoke and mist from the fire extinguisher diffused through the air, but Megumi did not let up until she had emptied the large canister in her hands. Shivering, covered in freezing gas that was already evaporating, Kenshin's violet eyes rolled up into the back of his head and he fell onto his side.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" The fire extinguisher was dropped, and Megumi took three long strides to steady Tomoe's swaying body. Helping her stay upright did not stop her from scolding her. "I put these in here specifically for him! Why didn't you use one?!"

"Forgive me, Megumi-sensei." A quivering inhale stalled her speech, and she flattened one hand over her sternum as she swallowed. "I was not thinking."

"Obviously not." Megumi's tongue clicked in irritation, and she toed Kenshin's unconscious body. "I really will put this idiot back in the freezer if he can't control himself."

"I don't… think it was necessarily his fault." Pushing herself to her feet, Tomoe staggered slightly, and her soft voice was breathy with pain. She too had been covered in the chill of the extinguisher, and the sudden change from hot to cold left her feeling brittle.

"Oh? Why's that?"

"I'm not certain, but it… felt unnatural. He hasn't lost himself in a very long time, and even then, he was able to control it after coming back to himself. This time he could not. It was almost as if... someone wanted him to lose control."

Eyeing her, Megumi crossed her arms. "If he was mad at someone, why did he come directly back here?"

Both turned their attention to Kaoru, who had crawled her way over without notice and was gently trying to shake Kenshin awake. Upon catching their gaze on her, she froze and ducked slightly into her shoulders.

"Hmph. Guess we'll have to wait until he wakes back up." Trying to interrogate a mute sounds like too much work. "Go clean yourself up, Tomoe-san. I'll take care of this idiot."

"Are you sure, Megumi-sensei? I can help you." Despite her protest, her shaking body betrayed her.

"Get out of here before I change my mind." Impatiently, Megumi's hand waved, and Tomoe bowed before disappearing further into the lab towards the bathroom.

In Tomoe's absence, Kaoru became a touch hostile, and scowled at Megumi from her now protective position. One arm had wrapped around Kenshin's back, and her eyes were fierce enough, but her skeletal form and one bum leg cancelled any level of intimidation she could have managed. Laughing outright, Megumi flipped a finger up, and hundreds of tiny fox fires lifted Kenshin into the air and out from under her reach.

"He's fine." Dark brows flattened over blue eyes, and Megumi cocked a hip. "He just passed out when his body temperature dropped too low. Once his fire kicks back in, he'll wake up, alright?"

A whiny noise protested, but Megumi ignored her as she directed his prone body through the rec room door and dropped him without fanfare onto the couch. When she turned, Kaoru was already trying to pull herself across the floor towards them, and she rolled her eyes before physically picking her up and depositing her into the wheelchair. She fought her at first, but quickly realized her intentions. Once situated, Kaoru hesitated and then bowed her head in tense thanks.

"You're welcome." Though sarcastic, she plopped one clawed hand onto her head before leading the girl back into the rec room.

Kaoru stopped at the couch, and frowned at the crumpled mess Megumi had purposefully left Kenshin in. As Megumi continued on towards the bathroom, Kaoru tugged on Kenshin's arm to reposition him so that he was laying comfortably on his back.

"Let me see."

Seated on a bath-stool in nothing but a towel, Tomoe's head lowered slightly before she stood. The clawed hands of the fox demon carefully undid the towel, and studied impassively the blackened and ashen-tipped crevice that now extended from Tomoe's shoulder, between her breasts, and to her opposite hip.

"You cannot afford to do that ever again." Black lashes fell, and Tomoe's chin turned to the side. "Do you understand? Never again."

Slowly, Tomoe nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

"He's relied on you too often. Let him suffer the consequences on his own, for once."

"I don't… do it just for him."

Red-tinted eyes studied her intently, but apparently decided to let her have the half-lie. "Good." Turning away abruptly, Megumi reached for the door. "Clean up and then come to my office. I'll do what I can, but it will mostly be cosmetic."

"Thank you, Megumi-sensei."

The wheelchair whizzed by the bathroom as Megumi exited, and she trailed behind Kaoru to find she had retrieved a blanket from the small bedroom. Carefully, she covered Kenshin with it as his body continued to shiver from the CO2 gas of the fire extinguisher. Whatever he had done to earn this young girl's trust, it seemed not even his demonic fire form could destroy it.

Ugh, why did I agree to this again? Disgusted with herself, Megumi pinched two fingers to the bridge of her nose and left.

When Tomoe finally returned from the bathroom, she was wearing a spare set of scrubs and looked quite pale. Each small step was tentative to stall any shots of pain, but she smiled gently to find Kaoru still hovering over Kenshin's unconscious body. She was currently trying to share her own warmth by placing her hands against either side of his neck and jaw. Upon seeing Tomoe, she turned her worried expression on her.

"I'm alright." Smoothing back her still unevenly cut hair, Tomoe searched her face. "What about you? Are you hurt anywhere? Ah." Two thirds of every one of her fingers was blatantly red. "Give them to me." Taking her hands in hers, Tomoe removed the heat from the burns easily. A small twinge in her chest, however, reminded her that it was not something she could carelessly handle any longer. Hiding the strain it caused with a sad smile, she fussed with the fly-a-way hairs stuck to Kaoru's cheek.

"I need to take care of some things this afternoon. Will you look after Himura-san while I'm out?"

Sapphire eyes blinked, and she nodded agreeably.

"There are some rice balls in that fridge there that I brought this morning. Be sure to eat something, and then brush your teeth and wash up before bed."

A light blush tinged Kaoru's cheeks and nose, and she ducked her head shyly before nodding again.

"Don't be concerned if he does not wake up tonight. He expended a lot of energy, and fire demons do not tolerate cold well. If you need anything, you can contact either myself or Megumi-sensei by that panel on the wall. Just like I showed you yesterday. Do you remember?"

Kaoru nodded again, and then watched Tomoe leave. Returning her attention to Kenshin, she fitfully ran a large chunk of his long red hair between both hands, and waited several long minutes until she was sure she was alone. Grasping the wheels of her chair, she rolled herself slowly back into the main room and retrieved Kenshin's phone from under one of the empty researcher desks. A glance at the screen showed it was still functioning, and it lit up with the picture of Sojiro's smiling face. Every muscle in her body tensed, her hands cinched around the phone, and her jaw clenched so hard the metal pin dug into the roof of her mouth.

In a fit of rage, she slammed the phone into the arm of the wheelchair with both hands and broke the screen. Feeling decidedly sick, she repeated the motion again and again until the picture disappeared, the phone died, and the body had distorted. In one last desperate attempt to be rid of her twisted emotions, she threw the phone hard and watched it smash into the floor before sliding back up under the desk to connect with the wall. Breathing heavily, she wrung her fingers until she had calmed herself, and then returned to her vigil beside the couch.

X

A/N: This chapter was a bit hard to write, since I wasn't sure about Kenshin's meltdown (literally, lol). I like it now that I've thought it through a bit more, and I always get excited when things seem to just make sense afterwards. Yay! You of course, we'll have to wait a bit to see what I mean, but it makes me happy, lol. I wanted to showcase a little more of the complicated relationship between Kenshin and Tomoe, and of course continue with Kaoru's open reactions but hidden emotions. Somehow, I feel like I should be a lot further along than I am for chapter seven, but they are shorter chapters than I usually do, so on we go! I'm excited for the next chapter, and I hope you are as well! Some sweet moments incoming, and a little more mystery. Love you guys!